13 Absolute Spiciest Foods In The World

Every person tolerates spiciness differently. Some people can’t tolerate it at all, preferring everything they eat to be mild and nice. Some would sprinkle pepper even on their ice-cream if they could. And if you’re not in either of these categories, chances are that you don’t necessarily love spicy food, but you don’t really mind it either. A slight amount of hotness to your meals is something you can probably put up with. However, there are some dishes that can make even the biggest hot pepper enthusiast break a sweat. If you want to test your resistance to food that makes you feel like you’re eating fire, here are the 13 Absolute Spiciest Foods In The World.

1. Sik Sik Wat

This Ethiopian’s dish particularity comes from the red pepper paste (known as berbere) covering the beef that is stewed here. However, it’s not just the red pepper that gives it a flaming hot aftertaste. Another ingredient is the “niter kebbeh,” which is a type of spicy butter.

2. Huo Guo

Huo Guo is the Chinese social equivalent of fondue in Western culture. Basically translating to “hot pot,” it’s a dish that’s known for uniting friends and family members around the table. It can be cooked with many different raw ingredients, which means that it’s easy to cook a huo guo that can soothe anyone’s taste buds.

3. Cau-Cau

A dish extremely popular in Peru’s fanciest restaurants and most modest homes alike, it’s said to have its roots in Africa. This dish was supposedly first cooked by the slaves that traveled all the way to Peru. Over time, it quickly grew in popularity, becoming a first-class meal. It’s traditionally cooked with tripe, but that can be substituted with seafood or chicken. Ideally, cau-cau should be served alongside rice, which absorbs the sauce and balances its strong taste.

4. Kimchi Jjigae

Jjigae is a Korean type of dish that strongly resembles the Western stew. A common presence on Korean tables, one of its most popular varieties is the one prepared with kimchi. The latter is another popular traditional food, which is basically pickled vegetables with hot peppers. The spiciness of kimchi is retained in the kimchi jjigae composition, though just how hot the meal is, differs from one cook to another.

5. Sambal Oelek

The term “sambal” is used to define a certain type of Southern Asiatic sauce, which is made from a variety of chili peppers and various other secondary ingredients. There are many variations of this sauce, depending on its composition and the food it’s served along with. Sambal oelek is one of them and it stands out through the fact that it contains some of the spiciest breeds of chili peppers, including the habanero and bird’s eye chilies.

6. Spicy Tuna Rolls

This recipe is not only popular in its place of origin, Bushido, Japan, but also in the Western world. It’s traditionally prepared with tuna scrape, which is what’s left behind after the fillet has been removed from the bones. A certain restaurant in Charleston found the tuna rolls to be so spicy, that they host contests in which participants are challenged to consume ten rolls. So far, no one has succeeded.

7. Korean Suicide Burrito

Despite its name, this dish was first cooked in John’s Snack & Deli, San Francisco. Its ingredients are a mix of the spiciest peppers from China, Mexico, and Korea, with kimchi often being included in the composition. If you’re curious about just how harrowing one bite into a Korean suicide burrito can be, a blogger wrote all about this experience. Needless to say, the spiciness haunted him for days to come.

8. Pearl’s Fried Rice

It’s pretty clear that this dish was invented with the goal of setting your tongue on fire. It’s served Pearl Café, in Florissant, and so far, only four hundred people have accepted the challenge of trying it out. Out of all them, only twenty-one lived to tell the tale. Well, the rest didn’t die, but I’m sure in that moment they probably felt like they did.

That’s definitely a very hardcore name, but at least, it fits an equally hardcore dish. East Coast Grill serves these chicken wings with six bombs by its side, meaning that they wholeheartedly intend to make our innards suffer. Many ingredients go into the making of this meal, with the majority of them being chilies and other spices.

10. Kua Kling Phat Tha Lung

This popular Thailandese dish also found popularity beyond the borders. It ranked a place on the menus of several restaurants in Los Angeles, where it’s considered to be the epitome of spiciness. Many have said that it’s almost as if it oozes heat, which is a perfect indicator of how scorching a single bite can be.

11. Pad Prik Khing

Another Thai dish, Pad Prik Khing’s focal ingredient is pork, which is joined either by seafood of firm vegetables. The one to blame for this meal’s spot among one of the spiciest foods in the world is the curry paste, which is made from chili ginger, infamous for its fiery taste.

12. Griot with Sauce Ti-Malice

Griot is very popular in Haiti, despite the fact that its spiciness means it may not be a dish easily tolerated by everyone. What gives it its flaming aftertaste is the sauce on top, which contains ingredients that include habanero chili, spicy pickled peppers, and apple cider vinegar.

13. Otak-Otak

The name may sound like fun, but actually having a taste of this explosive dish sure isn’t. Otak-otak is a kind of fish flake, creatively served within a grilled banana leaf. The dry pepper pieces scattered on top of it are what makes this Southern Asian meal so blazing.

I consider myself to be someone that can enjoy spicy foods, but these dishes sound a bit too much even for me. After all, there is a reason why they are the 13 Absolute Spiciest Foods In The World.